Leaves
by Kate02344
Summary: A story about a person who thinks he knows it all but sees nothing and the one who knows it all, sees it all and will lose it all.
1. Chapter 1

If my memory is not playing a trick on me, I can vaguely remember it was 6 o'clock, more or less. It was in the middle of summer, so I got to see the sunset. Well, through the windscreen of my car. The street was crowded and the traffic jam was terrible, so really, I, ever once in a while, would kick myself for always driving to that place instead of just going to the nearby ones. But then again, I like it there, quiet and the staff are skillful as well. After catching a brief glance of the mirror and saw my bangs, I agreed with my decision. An important meeting was being held the following week and I was busy for the rest of the other days. Seeing that it was Sunday, I had no choice but to ruining a perfect day off where I could have lay lazily on bed with my blanket on, a cup of hot chocolate in my hand while the air conditioner was on by picking up the key, driving all the way to my regular hairdresser's salon.

I ignored the nth heavy sigh of exhaustion emitted from my mouth as my hands that were gripping the steering wheel loosened. I stared at the standstill of cars' lines and at the bright red light, awaiting the flashing green one. After a torturing hour of hooters, my car managed to cross the white line and freely move on the broad road. I decreased the speed when the said salon was in my field of vision, thankfully. I parked my car at the parking space just across the street and walked my way to the salon. As I pushed the door opened, the familiar bell rang and the face of the receptionist brightened up upon seeing me. All of the sudden, a person ran towards me, blond hair swayed gently in the air and eyes filled with excitement.

" Akashicchi!"

Out of the blue, his pair of arms wrapped around my neck very loosely. This man was just too...oblivious of the surrounding. All the guests' eyes were on us, probably thinking of many nonsense assumptions which I could not blame them for that. He was Kise Ryouta, the owner here, a person who showed no sense of proper behaving with an acquainted man. He was definitely nice, especially towards me, but he was sadly not my favourite.

"Kise. People are looking, be more decent, would you?"

I murmured to him when my hands found their way to his and without any form of warning, gave them a lesson.

" Ouch!"

He jolted in pain as I gave him a squeeze of the hand. Grasping the idea, he silently withdrew his hands while making a face.

" You are too cold."

He said as he rubbed his hands to ease the pain.

"And you're acting like a child."

I looked over his shoulder and stared at the store. It was not crowded, only a few staff were occupied. I adverted my eyes to his golden irises and asked:

" Since you're rather free, would you mind giving me a haircut?"

Kise seemed to daze out for a while and a faint smile appeared on his beautiful face as a mean of response. Of course he would personally cut my hair, we were best friends since middle school after all. But it is always good to ask.

Without a word, he pointed at a chair across the room, the last one it was and had me walk there while he told the girl to rearrange his appointment.

" Sorry if I happen to ruin your plans with the customers."

I apologised as he wrapped a white cloth around me and adjusting my face to the right angle.

" It's fine."

And that put a temporary end to our small talk as he began to move the scissors along my red locks. I really could not jiggle and had to stay still which was, to be honest, boring. My eyes began to wander to every place shown on the mirror. The lady sat diagonally to me stood up and left the salon with a somewhat beautiful wavy long hair. It might have been perfect if it was not withered because of the lack of care. She was the last one, I thought to myself. And so for a milisecond, I was convinced that there was nothing or no one left for me to at least look at and therefore I was uninterested again. But then I caught a sight where I could not help myself but to jerk.

" What is it ?"

Kise asked with great confusion on his face.

" My apologies, please proceed."

" OK."

He reluctantly carried on and was left wondering if there was a problem with me. But I was alright, nothing was wrong with me. It was just...where did she come from?

With her back at me, a girl was sitting symmetrically at me without me noticing. Like that of a ghost, it was as if she just popped out of nowhere so as to give me a fright. After calming down and adapting to her presence, I actually observed her rather carefully. The hairdesser was not doing a very good job. The young girl's face was blank, but I could spot a certain amount of annoyance on it as the staff struggled to hold a lock of her hair and cut it unproffesionally, as if she was an apprentice. But enough about that unskillfulled person. The girl herself who apparently had no presence was quite fair, but not very attractive. Pale white skin and deep blue eyes made her appearance resembled a simple yet well-thought-out doll. But it might be the doll that was the least likely for you to purchase from the shop. Reflecting on the wide mirror, I gazed at her very short blue hair that was no different from a boy. It was messy, it was sparse. Seeing it had you sympathise her, because it was certain that this girl suffered from an illness.

Untill now, I still have no idea if she was aware of my fixed gaze on her face or not because her countenance, from when I first eyed her to the moment she left, remained blank and unexpressive. To what seemed like a carve into my mind, her fragile figure stood up from her seat and vacated the store, undisturbingly. I paid no attention to my new look that my friend was proud of and subconsciously started my car and drove home. I did not understand why, but I just could not erase her image out of my memory. The girl whose voice and name I knew nothing about. Heaving another sigh, I was worried about what I just got myself into.


	2. Chapter 2

_Spring 2014_

" For crying out loud! Why the hell did you promise the professor that? I'm ridiculously busy that day!"

I am known for the tendency to be rather patient and the ability to keep my temper in almost all circumstances and when dealing with many types of people. But then, there is, for sure, a certain moment when I can be out of character and lose my self-possession in the blink of an eye : when I have a talk, with one particular person, my friend, Kise.

" I am very sorry, Akashicchi, but I got really carried away. You can reschedule, right? It's probably not too-"

" Stop your gap! It's impossible when I've already planned everything to the minute!"

He had better be grateful we were talking on the phone. If not, he should have been at death's door as we were speaking. Even after cutting him off so rudely, he carried on mouthing about how great it would be if us, the alumni, to pay a visit to our university, now that we were 27. It would be such a great opportunity to see our instructors and to learn sweet, old memories of the old days agian, he said to me at which I turned a deaf ear to.

" I don't want to hear anymore, Kise. I'm far too busy to be chatting right now."

Without listening to his response, I ended the call and chucked the phone away, well, actually onto the sofa. I could not risk doing any damage to it. It is too troublesome to go all the way to the store and might as well have to choose a different kind or style from the previous one. Anyhow, yes, I was occupied ( all week) and therefore had to finish the mount of paperwork lay neatly on my working desk like a terrible joke for a man on Sunday. " If I covered my eyes, would it disappear?", it occured in my mind and how funny it was because I did try. Surely, it did not happen like in my fantasy, but it was worth trying. I pulled the chair out and sat down. My hand reached the remote control and without the need to stare at the buttons, I turned on the air conditioner. I then put it down and placed it near the big mug of coffee. Yes, it was not the most healthiest thing, especially when consuming a large amount of it like this. But during the four years of working, I came to love caffeine and just could not bring myself to not fall asleep when sitting in an office all day, doing paperwork without it.

And so I was wide awake after taking a sip and initially, my concentration was excessive. But it stayed that way for only an hour. Under the following threats: empty mug, relaxing breeze, sore shoulders and blank mind, I could not help myself from just admitting defeated. Right when I was done signing a paper, the pen which my fingers were grasping was released from the firm hold and fell down the floor. I breathed out heavily in irritattion and bent down to pick it up. I intended to do that, but half way through, I changed my mind, all of the sudden. I left the pen where it was and vacated the room, after turning off the air conditioner and grabbed the jacket on the hook next to the door. It was Sunday after all.

Usually, the weather is warm and can be hot, but not today. When I opened the door, I was immediately greeted with a blast of cool wind which was soothing. With the key chain making a clicking noise, I strode towards the red Audi parked in front of my house. As soon as I started the engine, the car moved forwards at about 40 km/h. I visualised myself getting heavier and heavier which relaxed my body considerably, especially while my favourite song was vibrating in my mind. The road was not overcrowded, I guessed most people had decided to stay in or go for a trip outside the city. I was just glad there was no traffic jam, to me, that would be like going to sleep and getting wake up constantly until morning. It was only going to be a short ride and I wanted it to at least be a pleasant one. Five minutes later, I started to think about what Kise had told me. He was right that it had been three years since we last saw Teiko and my professors, but things were not so simple. My car turned left at the intersection as the desire of staying out a little longer was uncontrollably increasing. Seriously, my mood always gets ruined whenever I think of the work awaiting me and the responsibility of a CEO to accomplish them triumphantly. Unknown about the road that I just took due to the fact that it was my first time driving on it, I actually worried although the GPS was present. I began to glance around nervously and gripped onto the steering wheel a little tighter. Suddenly, something hit the windscreen. I stopped the car abruptly at that only to find out they were just a few of big, dry leaves. The wind must have gotten stronger than before and it really was when I stepped out of the car. The leaves were flying everywhere and my eyes tried to detect from where they originally were. And they stopped upon a park twenty metres away. I promptly drove there with inexplicable emotions fought each other in my stomach. The leaves kept scattering when I got to the destination. The sight was chaotic, the trees were having the gale denuded their twigs and leaves of them. People around me saw this as a not so good sign and quickly entered their home. But perhaps my feet were glued to ground and my mind was wandering, to somewhere faraway in my brain, somewhere that was buried by other memories.

 _Leaves sprout in spring and continue to grow and stay beautiful until summer. They leave the branches and fall to the ground in autumn. And in winter, they wither and are as dry as they can possible be and are concealed by layers of snow. And us people are like that of the leaves._

The memory came like a storm and penetrated my perception. And I was then aware of what was crossing through my mind.

 _People are born and raised and are beautiful the way they are. But in one point of our life, we fall. And after that, we are forgotten._

This memory was cruel. To me, it was pure bitterness and dejection.

 _One day, you will become like that or worse, you will become the one who made people become like that._

Without a choice, it had carved deeply into my mind and forever will it be a reminder.

 _I'm sorry, Seijuuro, for saying such things to you despite your young age. But I really mean it._

I could still visualise the sight as if it was happening in front of my very eyes. The isolated room, the painful window and her fragile figure on the wheelchair, counting her left days in this life.

 _Do not hate your father. It was only my fault for being in this pathetic state._

Never though will I forgive him. I stared at the sight, how ironic since it was the same sight she saw before her long journey. My countenance stayed the same, because I was capable of controlling my emotions. Time went by, until I realised how long it had been since I stood there. Hurriedly, I took out the key inside my jacket and turned around. And I accidentally hit someone, strong enough to push them to the ground.

" I'm really sorry. It was negligent of me."

I apologised and offered that person a hand. And there I saw. Deep bluish irises and pale skin.

" It's alright."

Like that of a leaf in autumn, truly beautiful yet had separated from its branch, only waiting to wither.


	3. Chapter 3

Despite the violent wind that was blowing outside, almost raking everything with its madness, inside the car, it seemed to be so passive and defensive. I tried my best not to appear anxious and focused on driving the car. She, on the other hand, looked aimlessly in mid-air. Her big eyes were so dull and therefore inscrutable. That aside, her swollen eyes, too, did not go unnoticed, so I wondered if she had just had a fight. The sudden movement of her small head made me realise I have stared at her subconsciously. She might have regarded me as an ill-mannered man as well.

" We're almost there."

My voice sounded rather calm by which I was very relieved. But the unpleasant quietness was still present as she replied back with just a light nod. I chose not to lengthen this conversation, seeing it would only result in an unwanted outcome, and went on carrying out my job of escorting her home. As a result, the noisy screams of the wind excluded, the rest of the ride was in silence. And to be honest, I did not enjoy that very much.

As my car turned left, into my field of vision, quite a new and adequate standard the neighbourhood appeared. It was not close to mine nor to the park we had just encountered at. And since she was going to walk home in this horrendous weather and for conscience's sake, I could not ignore and not lend her a helping hand. My eyes trailed along the leftward row of houses, Most were two- story houses and were rather similar to one another, I reckoned, by what I managed to see under the twirling wind. It was not until a few minutes later that I jerked up at the abrupt reminder.

" I'm sorry but, where is your house?"

How improper of me, not having asked that all important question sooner. I glanced over her petite figure whose eyes were, instead of looking for it, staring the empty space in front of the car while seemingly considered my question.

" Just about one block away."

" Sure."

I decreased the speed from 35 down to 30 km/h so as not to go past her residence by accident. No more troubles I was willing to get myself into. The car was driven for the next two minutes when all of the sudden, I eyed a certain house on the right and what was so distinct about it that caught my attention without any difficulty was the giant shadow created by the two apple trees, each by the side of the whitish house.

" That is my place."

She pointed at the one I was staring at and for some reason, I was not surprised that it was really hers. We leaned forward slightly as the car stopped almost perfectly in front of the house. I turned to her and wanted to offer my help of walking her into it but then, I saw a figure who was running towards my car. She was a middle-aged woman, pretty and slim and the girl next to me resembled her greatly. I reached over the door and opened it because I grasped the idea what there relationship was.

" Oh my goodness! Tetsuna!"

She exclaimed and simultaneously, looked at her pale face and mine.

" Excuse me, you must be-"

" No, let's talk later. For now, we should get inside immediately."

* * *

" Here you go."

I reached out and grabbed hold of the more or less half-filled glass of water.

" Thank you very much."

She beamed a warm smile at me and sat down on the armchair opposite the sofa I was situating at.

" What a dreadful weather! Don't you think so too?"

" Oh, indeed."

I felt a bit uncomfortable and I assumed she also had the same unpleasant feeling, yet, she smiled it away.

" My apologies for causing you such a trouble of bringing my daughter home."

" It's fine."

The reluctant smile did not leave her face, but those brown eyes were filled with a deep anxiety which brought me down just looking at them. It was none of my concern, but it still left me pondering the bond between the mother and the daughter. Another thought occurred in my mind that instantaneously conflicted with the previous one. And then, the stack of paperwork at home somehow slipped into my mind as well which was enough reason for me to part with this family. I stood up, which took her completely by surprise.

" Are you leaving?"

" Yes, I am. I have an urgent business, I'm afraid."

Her face saddened and there was nothing I could do about that.

" Then, at least, may I know your name?"

" Pardon me?"

" Please, it was you who helped my daughter after all."

" Well, my name is Akashi Seijuuro."

The mention of my name caused her expression to change swiftly. But she hid it well.

" Thank you. By the way, I'm Mayu Kuroko. And my daughter is Tetsuna Kuroko."

" They are both lovely names, Kuroko-san."

" I'm flattered."

I then said a parting to her and drove home just to finish my work. At the time, I did not give much thought about the girl and her mother. And never had it occurred to me that ever since the moment I gave Kuroko Tetsuna a helping hand, my fate was changed. But was it for the better or for the worse?


End file.
